Call of Home
by Iris Cornelia Jade
Summary: "I'm dead, aren't I?" Hollyleaf turned to the beautiful blue cat. She shrugged. "It depends on how you define dead, really." One-Shot.


**First of Warriors Forum!**

**R&R?**

Hollyleaf opened her eyes.

Where was she? Only seconds ago she had ran into the tunnel in hopes of getting _away_ from Thunderclan. Then the tunnel had crumbled, the world fallen down around her. Where _was _she?

"We've been expecting you."

Hollyleaf whirled around, fur prickling uneasily. If there were enemies all around her here, she wasn't going to die without a fight.

Then she blinked. She was on the island for Gatherings in the middle of the lake, but when she dipped her head to take a drink, it was…shiny? _Starry?_

"I'm dead, aren't I?"

She turned to the cat. Stately and tall, with misty grey eyes and blue-black fur.

The beautiful cat with stars glistening in her fur shrugged. "It depends on how you define dead."

Hollyleaf bared her teeth. More incomplete answers. Her whole life had been full of them. She didn't need any more. "What do you mean?" she mewed.

"Look, Hollyleaf, even _I_ don't know what lies beyond the forest here," and the cat twitched her tail to the land surrounding the lake, ",but I hope to find what happens to the real dead someday."

The cat sounded wiser than anyone she'd ever known. Hollyleaf stared. "You're Bluestar, aren't you?"

Bluestar smiled. "Yes, I was once leader of Thunderclan."

Hollyleaf managed a smile, despite the heavy feeling of loss weighing on her. "I'm not going to see Jayfeather and Lionblaze for a while now, right?"

Bluestar nuzzled her gently, like a mother would her kits. "Don't worry. You'll see them in dreams, and someday all cats will join us. Here, the prey runs wild, and all clans are united into one."

Hollyleaf pulled back and tilted her head. "So, we're not really dead? We have to die again here?"

Bluestar shook her head vigorously, as if shocked. "No, no. The Dark Forest is where all the real dead go. That's the place where all the evil ones go. You won't see Tigerstar, or Hawkfrost, or Darkstripe anywhere here. The Dark Forest are for those dead in mind, emotion, and right and wrong."

Hollyleaf stared at her. "So why am I not there?"

Bluestar blinked curiously. "What do you mean?"

Hollyleaf paced around the stretch of land. "For Starclan's sake—I murdered Ashfur! Are you going to tell me that I'm not evil? I killed a cat! From my own clan! From YOUR own clan! So why am I not there?"

Hollyleaf had no idea why she was trying to condemn her to eternal pain. All she knew was that, here in Starclan, she'd realized just how horrible she'd been.

It was like the real meaning of what she had done had finally crashed down on her.

Bluestar laughed lightly. "Dear Hollyleaf, understand. They-that is to say, the cats in the Dark Forest- did it for power, for their own fame. You did it for your mother and your siblings. I'm not saying you should, but you did not do it for the bloodthirsty reasons they did. We know your intentions, everything about you, and Thunder, Shadow, Wind, and River have agreed to let you stay."

"The original founders of the clans?"

Bluestar smiled. "The one and only."

Hollyleaf tilted her head. "So, all the cats in the legends I've heard of? Will Midnight visit us? Feathertail? Yellowfang?"

Bluestar purred in amusement. "Yes, they are all here, though Midnight and Feathertail must go between worlds sometimes. You will still see them, however. And your friends, too, like Honeyfern. All here is peaceful."

Hollyleaf stared at her paws. "You know, I'm a bit sad there will be no more adventures. Don't get me wrong, I hate the dying and suffering, but it will be a bit…"

"Bland? Boring? I think so too, to be honest with you, Hollyleaf," mewled Bluestar happily. "However, Midnight told us there's a rising—a stirring of sorts—in the Dark Forest. We don't know for sure yet, but if we've got it right, it just might be the beginnings of another adventure."

"But what about the prophecy of the power of three?" asked Hollyleaf. "Surely it won't work when there's only two?"

"Hollyleaf," purred Bluestar, "Kin does not have to mean direct daughters. Cloudtail has a daughter, does he not? And Whitewing's going to have kits soon. "

"I don't understand," mewled Hollyleaf. "Why didn't Starclan give me powers?"

"Starclan has a reason for everything, though it might be unclear at first."

"Will I figure out someday?"

"Yes."

"Why do you want to know so much about the Dark Forest, Bluestar?"

Bluestar shrugged. "Maybe because, like you, I need to know everything. Not many understand how I feel, but you do." Bluestar turned, leaping lightly onto the log bridge and padding back toward the forest. "Come, Hollyleaf. We can talk later."

"Just a second, Bluestar."

Bluestar nodded and padded away.

Hollyleaf turned and gazed up at the stars. Instead of the cruel, cold ones she had seen when she had fled the Gathering, she could see them now, warm and silent. Gazing down at her own fur, she saw stardust glittering in her pelt. Glancing up again, she looked to a new star in Starclan, one that represented her.

_Stay safe,_ she thought to her brothers. _Remember you're not alone. When you look at the stars, remember I'm looking back. I'll walk forever in your dreams before we are finally united in Starclan._

_We are the original three, you and I._

Hollyleaf turned her head from Silverpelt, and leaped lightly onto the bridge before padding back to the forest.

She had escaped, just as she had hoped for, from her jail. And finally, _finally, _she had returned home.

Her home was calling.


End file.
